Quality Education for Latinos and Latinas

by PORTALES, RITA; Portales, Marco

• ISBN13: 9780292706644
• ISBN10: 0292706642
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-06-30
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

"Portales and Portales, teachers and insiders, provide a needed perspective on the critical relationship between teachers and students and the factors that affect it.... Their work deserves to be read by teachers and parents, educational administrators, and policymakers." --Miren Uriarte, Senior Research Associate, Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy, University of Massachusetts, Boston As educators and legislators across the country debate how to improve public schools, the most vital factor often disappears from the equation--the relationship between the teacher and the student. According to veteran educators Rita and Marco Portales, this relationship is the central issue in the education of students, especially Latino/a students who often face serious barriers to school success because of the legacy of racism, insufficient English-language skills, and cultural differences with the educational establishment. To break down these barriers and help Latino/a students acquire a quality education, the Portaleses focus attention on the teacher-student relationship and offer a proven method that teachers can use to strengthen the print and oral skills of their students. They begin by analyzing the reasons why schools too often fail to educate Latino/a students, using eloquent comments from young Latinos/as and their parents to confirm how important the teacher-student relationship is to the student's success. Then they show how all educational stakeholders--teachers, administrators, state education agencies, legislators, and parents--can work together to facilitate the teacher-student relationship and improve student education. By demonstrating how teachers can improve students' reading, critical thinking, writing, and oral communication skills across the curriculum, they argue that learning can be made more relevant for students, keeping their interest levels high while preparing them for academically competitive colleges.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	1	(6)
PART I. Education and Latino amd Latina Students Today	7	(94)
Thinking About Our Spanish-Speaking Students in the Schools	9	(10)
Latino and Latina Students and the Schools we Could Create	19	(21)
But Our Education Systems are Distended	40	(12)
Why Students Drop Out	52	(18)
A Mexican American Mother Who Will Not Visit School	70	(6)
The Tribal Mentality and Favoritism	76	(13)
Crime and Properly Funded Schools	89	(12)
PART II. How to Repair an Education System	101	(42)
Teachers, Administrators, Board Members, State Education Agencies, Legislators, and Taxpayers: Which is the Most Important Group?	103	(9)
The K--12 School District Team	112	(4)
Teachers and Students in the Classroom	116	(12)
Understanding and Educating all Students	128	(8)
The Four K--16 Cultures	136	(7)
PART III. A Print and Oral Approach	143	(42)
Emphasizing All Print and Oral Skills	145	(17)
Blueprint for Reinstating Social Values and Civic Virtues	162	(4)
A Print and Oral Approach That Champions the Importance of Clauses	166	(11)
A Third Dimension to Words: Choreographing Writing	177	(8)
CONCLUSION	185	(6)
Quality Education and the Teachers in the Classroom	187	(4)
Notes	191	(20)
Bibliography	211	(6)
Index	217